High brightness hybrid welding of steel

Recent advances in solid-state laser technology have improved the return on investment for laser and hybrid welding in deep-penetration applications. In this research, a high-power high-brightness fiber laser was coupled to a pulsed gas metal arc welding (GMAW) system to evaluate hybrid laser-arc welding (HLAW) of carbon steel. The effects of multiple process variables on weld penetration were tested. These variables included shielding gas, beam-to-wire distance (BTWD), laser focal position, and process orientation. High-speed video was used to record welding trials. A custom diode laser illumination system was developed to improve clarity and image quality of the high-speed videos. Additionally, a custom integration package was developed in collaboration with The Lincoln Electric Company and The Ohio State University Welding Engineering program to provide synchronized pulsing of the laser and GMAW systems. Welding trials were conducted with this system to evaluate the benefit of synchronous or asynchronous pulsing of the two welding processes.